"Juanita" ("Nita Juanita") is a love song variously subtitled "A Spanish Ballad", "A Song of Spain", and others. "Juanita" was number two of a six song collection entitled Songs of Affection published December 1853 by Chappell & Co. and composed by noted Victorian society figure and social reformer Caroline Norton.[1]Juanita was the first ballad by a woman composer to achieve massive sales,[2] and its original setting (for a soprano) has been seen to be subtly subversive of gender roles (as the woman singing the song is taking the part of the wooing lover),[3] a topic of some significance to Mrs. Norton.
As composing was seen as a masculine occupation, it was typical to borrow or adapt the melodies.[3] The opening four-bar phrase of the song is taken from Handel's aria Lascia ch'io pianga from the opera Rinaldo, although the subsequent melody differs from that of the aria. The name of the song is derived from the refrains:
Nita! Juanita! Ask thy soul if we should part! Nita! Juanita! Lean thou on my heart.[4]
Nita! Juanita! Let me linger by thy side! Nita! Juanita! Be my own fair bride![4]
"Juanita" appears in numerous songbooks and has been recorded many times. Early successes were by Frank C. Stanley (1905) and by Emilio de Gogorza in 1919.[5] The song was included in the Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae album Memory Songs (1955). A crowd of picnickers sings the song, near the 41-minute mark, in the 1955 film Picnic.Jim Reeves included the song (as 'My Juanita') in his album Girls I Have Known (1958)[6] and Bing Crosby featured the song in a medley on his album 101 Gang Songs (1961).
Referencesedit
^Fuld, James (2000). The Book of World-famous Music: Classical, Popular, and Folk. Courier Corporation. p. 325. ISBN978-0486414751.
^Scott, Derek (2001). "3". The Singing Bourgeois: Songs of the Victorian Drawing Room and Parlor (2nd ed.). Ashgate. ISBN978-0754602590.
^ abSwafford, Joanna. "Subversive Singing: Role Reversals in Caroline Norton's 'Juanita'". Songs of the Victorians. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
juanita, song, confused, with, wanita, song, underworld, juanita, underworld, song, juanita, nita, juanita, love, song, variously, subtitled, spanish, ballad, song, spain, others, juanita, number, song, collection, entitled, songs, affection, published, decemb. Not to be confused with Wanita For the song by Underworld see Juanita Underworld song Juanita Nita Juanita is a love song variously subtitled A Spanish Ballad A Song of Spain and others Juanita was number two of a six song collection entitled Songs of Affection published December 1853 by Chappell amp Co and composed by noted Victorian society figure and social reformer Caroline Norton 1 Juanita was the first ballad by a woman composer to achieve massive sales 2 and its original setting for a soprano has been seen to be subtly subversive of gender roles as the woman singing the song is taking the part of the wooing lover 3 a topic of some significance to Mrs Norton Juanita Sheet music cover 1855 SongPublished1855Composer s Caroline NortonLyricist s Caroline NortonAs composing was seen as a masculine occupation it was typical to borrow or adapt the melodies 3 The opening four bar phrase of the song is taken from Handel s aria Lascia ch io pianga from the opera Rinaldo although the subsequent melody differs from that of the aria The name of the song is derived from the refrains Nita Juanita Ask thy soul if we should part Nita Juanita Lean thou on my heart 4 Nita Juanita Let me linger by thy side Nita Juanita Be my own fair bride 4 Juanita appears in numerous songbooks and has been recorded many times Early successes were by Frank C Stanley 1905 and by Emilio de Gogorza in 1919 5 The song was included in the Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae album Memory Songs 1955 A crowd of picnickers sings the song near the 41 minute mark in the 1955 film Picnic Jim Reeves included the song as My Juanita in his album Girls I Have Known 1958 6 and Bing Crosby featured the song in a medley on his album 101 Gang Songs 1961 References edit Fuld James 2000 The Book of World famous Music Classical Popular and Folk Courier Corporation p 325 ISBN 978 0486414751 Scott Derek 2001 3 The Singing Bourgeois Songs of the Victorian Drawing Room and Parlor 2nd ed Ashgate ISBN 978 0754602590 a b Swafford Joanna Subversive Singing Role Reversals in Caroline Norton s Juanita Songs of the Victorians Retrieved July 16 2017 a b Norton Juanita Whitburn Joel 1986 Joel Whitburn s Pop Memories 1890 1954 Menomonee Falls Wisconsin Record Research Inc p 534 ISBN 0 89820 083 0 allmusic com allmusic com Retrieved January 1 2019 Bibliography Metropolitan Quartette 1909 Juanita mp3 Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project University of California Santa Barbara Morgan and Stanley 1905 Juanita mp3 Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project University of California Santa Barbara Norton Mrs Juanita sheet music Boston Oliver Ditson 1885 External links edit1858 Juanita sheet music with piano arrangement nbsp This song related article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Juanita song amp oldid 1147299783, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
